MLB roundup: Dodgers clinch seventh straight division title

Corey Seager homered twice in the first three innings and finished with five RBIs as the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Baltimore Orioles 7-3 on Tuesday night to clinch their seventh consecutive National League West title.

The Dodgers, who have made it to the World Series the past two seasons but lost both times, had a low-key celebration on the field after the final out on Tuesday. They subsequently partied in the visiting clubhouse.

Seager hit a three-run homer in the first and belted a two-run shot in the third as the Dodgers took a big lead early on and never looked back. Both long balls came off Baltimore starter Ty Blach (1-3).

Walker Buehler (13-3) fired seven shutout innings for Los Angeles, striking out 11 while yielding four hits and no walks.

Brewers 4, Marlins 3

Pinch hitter Tyler Austin lofted a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth inning, and Milwaukee beat host Miami despite losing right fielder Christian Yelich to a season-ending knee injury.

Yelich — a strong candidate to win his second straight National League MVP award — left the game in the top of the first inning after he fouled a ball off his right knee. The Brewers announced postgame that he fractured his kneecap.

Milwaukee’s ninth-inning rally started with a leadoff single from former Miami Hurricanes catcher Yasmani Grandal. Trent Grisham, who had replaced Yelich, then doubled, and Grandal scored when Miami center fielder Lewis Brinson’s throw home was offline on Austin’s fly.

Padres 9, Cubs 8 (10 innings)

Manuel Margot drew a four-pitch, walk-off walk from Steve Cishek with one out in the 10th inning to give host San Diego a victory over Chicago.

The Padres held leads of 6-2 and 8-5, but the Cubs rallied to tie the game in the eighth on the second homers of the game by both Kris Bryant and Jason Heyward.

Cishek retired the first hitter he faced in the 10th before giving up an infield single to Luis Urias. Cishek (3-6) then issued walks to Austin Hedges and Travis Jankowski to load the bases before failing to throw a strike to Margot. Michel Baez (1-1) picked up his first major league win.

Plesac (8-6) gave up two singles to David Fletcher and doubles to Kole Calhoun and Taylor Ward while throwing 114 pitches. He struck out five and walked two. The 24-year-old rookie never previously pitched past seven innings in the majors.

Jordon Luplow homered, drove in three and scored twice, Franmil Reyes drove in four runs, and Francisco Lindor hit his 30th home run of the season to allow Cleveland to keep pace with Tampa Bay and Oakland in the American League wild-card race.

Mets 3, Diamondbacks 2

Zack Wheeler tossed seven strong innings, and Todd Frazier accounted for all the Mets’ runs with a pair of RBI doubles as New York beat visiting Arizona.

Wheeler (11-7) allowed one run on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven. He limited the Diamondbacks to two hits in 12 at-bats with runners on base.

Brad Brach recorded two outs in the eighth but gave up a homer to Eduardo Escobar before Justin Wilson got the final four outs for his second save. Wilson struck out ex-Mets infielder Wilmer Flores with two on for the final out.

J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper each added a home run, and Scott Kingery contributed an inside-the-park homer. Blake Parker (3-2) earned the win in relief, while Hector Neris earned his 25th save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman each had three hits for the Braves, and Johan Camargo homered.

Twins 5, Nationals 0

Mitch Garver hit a two-run homer and Jose Berrios pitched seven strong innings to lead Minnesota to a victory over Washington in Minneapolis.

Garver became the third Twins player to reach the 30-homer mark this season, joining Max Kepler (36) and Nelson Cruz (35). It’s the first time since 1987 that Minnesota has had three players hit 30 home runs in a season and the fifth time in franchise history.

Berrios (12-8), who entered the contest with a 1-3 record and 8.07 ERA in his six previous starts, allowed just two hits and a walk while striking out four.

Rays 5, Rangers 3 (11 innings)

Tampa Bay scored a pair of unearned runs with the help of two Texas throwing errors in the 11th inning to post a win in Arlington, Texas.

Emilio Pagan (4-2) pitched a scoreless 10th for the victory, and Pete Fairbanks worked around two hits in the bottom of the 11th to notch his first career save.

Austin Meadows slugged a two-run homer for the Rays, who won their sixth straight. Nick Solak went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer for the Rangers.

Tigers 12, Yankees 11

Jordy Mercer hit a game-winning RBI single in the ninth as host Detroit overcame a six-homer onslaught by New York.

Jeimer Candelario drove in three runs for Detroit while Christin Stewart homered and knocked in two runs. Joe Jimenez (4-7) pitched a scoreless inning to get the win for the Tigers, who wiped out an early six-run deficit.

Brett Gardner and Didi Gregorius hit two homers apiece for New York. Edwin Encarnacion and Gleyber Torres also went deep.

Athletics 21, Astros 7

Matt Olson and Sean Murphy recorded multi-homer games, and Oakland made amends for a 15-0 loss in the opener of a four-game series by dismantling host Houston.

Olson set a single-season high with his 30th home run and then added his 31st as well, while Murphy ran his career and season totals to three. The Athletics slugged six homers, including three two-run blasts off Joe Biagini in the fourth inning.

The Athletics were already comfortably ahead 11-2 before they teed off against Biagini. They tagged Wade Miley (13-5) for seven runs in the top of the first, stringing together six consecutive one-out singles after Marcus Semien opened the game with a single and Olson walked two batters later.

Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3

Ken Giles retired Rafael Devers with two on in the ninth inning to seal host Toronto’s victory over Boston to snap a season-high, seven-game losing streak.

Giles converted his 19th save in 20 chances, but it was hardly easy. He needed to 29 pitches to cap a night in which six Toronto relievers combined for 4 2/3 scoreless innings.

The Blue Jays scored all of their runs on homers by Cavan Biggio, Reese McGuire and Rowdy Tellez. The Red Sox lost their fourth straight and fell to 3-7 in their past 10 games.

Rockies 2, Cardinals 1

Nolan Arenado homered for one of his two hits, Chi Chi Gonzalez pitched six solid innings for his first win of the season, and Colorado beat St. Louis in Denver.

Gonzalez (1-6) gave up just one run on four hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter. Jairo Diaz pitched two innings to pick up his second save, and Charlie Blackmon added two hits for the Rockies.

Dexter Fowler doubled and scored for the Cardinals, who managed just six hits.

White Sox 7, Royals 3

Yoan Moncada had three hits, including one of Chicago’s three home runs, as the host White Sox defeated visiting Kansas City.

The Royals got home runs from Adalberto Mondesi, Alex Gordon and Ryan O’Hearn, but they were all solo shots, while Chicago got a grand slam from Eloy Jimenez and a two-run shot from Moncada.

Ivan Nova (10-12) won despite serving up all three of the Royals’ homers and allowing six hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out five without a walk.

Giants 5, Pirates 4

Johnny Cueto made a masterful return to the mound after a 13-month absence, and San Francisco narrowly avoided a second straight bullpen meltdown in a victory over visiting Pittsburgh.

Stephen Vogt had a two-run single and a two-run home run to account for nearly all the San Francisco offense, helping the Giants end a two-game losing streak.

Cueto (1-0), pitching in the majors for the first time since July 28, 2018, demonstrated he’s fully recovered from Tommy John surgery by firing five shutout innings, allowing just one hit and one walk. He struck out four.

Mariners 4, Reds 3

Kyle Seager hit a two-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning as Seattle defeated visiting Cincinnati.

Kyle Lewis, making his major league debut, and Dylan Moore also homered for the Mariners, who snapped a six-game losing streak that equaled their longest of the season.